Interchangeable and/or repositionable ring inserts for fishing rod line guides are known and examples may be found in any one of the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: Mitchell--U.S. 682,730, 1901 Ross--U.S. 2,561,675, 1951 Haas--U.S. 2,778,141, 1957 Clarke--U.S. 3,117,388, 1964 Cwik--U.S. 3,171,228, 1965 Bartoletti--U.S. 3,403,468, 1968.
Of the above, the Ross and Haas patents both employ a resilient wire frame for supporting a basically annular insert in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the rod. In Ross, the peripherally grooved ring 16 as shown most clearly in FIG. 5 is flattened on one side as shown at 16B. While readily replaceable, the ring 16 can be mounted only in the one position shown for example in FIG. 4. The ring 10 of Haas on the other hand can be supported in its frame in either of two positions, but changing from one to the other requires removing the ring turning it end over end 180.degree. and reinserting it in the frame. Obviously the fishing line must first be removed before such change can be effected. Another drawback to the Haas structure is that it requires very close manufacturing tolerance to prevent too much movement between the ring and the frame when in use.